The Swan and The Sergeant - Alana Albertson Page 0,38

always come back to you. We both needed just a break. Now you don’t want me? Okay. It is over. Dancing, too.”

My chest constricted. “Over? Are you insane? Blackpool is coming up?”

“We will dance in Blackpool, and then I will find a new partner to dance together with. I will start looking now. Goodbye.” The dial tone beeped in her ear.

It was over. Ten years of sacrifice and, in just an instant, my dance career had imploded.

He would find another partner in a minute, and I could never get a partner like Dima again. I was a fantastic dancer and very confident about my abilities. But in ballroom, there were a hundred girls for every guy. And very few guys were the caliber of dancer that Dima was. All of the professional men in the Blackpool Latin final already had partners. If any of them did become available, they would pick a younger girl, not start over with a twenty-eight-year-old woman.

The tears started falling down my face. My career was over.

Bret emerged from the bedroom and walked onto the balcony. “Hey babe, what’s wrong?” He put his arms around my waist.

“Just hold me.”

Bret hugged me. “You can tell me anything.”

I looked into his big blue eyes. When we were kids, we were each other’s best friends. We’d known each other’s every secret until the end. I longed for that closeness again but was afraid to let him in.

“Uhm, that was Dima. He thought we would get back together romantically, like we’ve done before. I told him it was over that I was with you. He said that our partnership was over. We are done after Blackpool.”

Bret released me and looked away. “What did you expect, Sel? Dima’s probably the best male dancer in the world. Once you shut that door for good, of course, he’d bounce. You may have thought you were broken up, but it was always on his terms. As long as you would jump back into his arms whenever he decided the time was right. You know how he works. He’s always been involved with his partners. When Carrie cheated on him, that’s when he went after you. Carrie still wanted to dance with him.”

I knew all too well. Carrie had an affair with Giorgio, a gorgeous Italian dancer. When Dima found out, he dumped her even though she begged him to still compete with her.

Even worse, I knew exactly what Dima had done to get me to leave Bret. Luckily, Bret still didn’t know the depth of Dima’s manipulation.

Yet. I had to tell him.

My lip quivered. It still hadn’t crossed my mind that he was going to end our partnership. “I know. But if we win Blackpool in two months, we would have the dance world at our feet. Why would he want to start over?”

“Dancing is his life. Why wouldn’t he want to start over? If you guys had stuck together, at some point, you would’ve quit competitive dancing—either because of your age or to start a family. He can dance with a girl in her early twenties and compete for the next ten years. He can win Blackpool in a few months with you, and he’ll win Blackpool again with someone else.”

Wow, Bret understood Dima better than I did. Maybe it was just because he was a guy.

Bret stared at me. “You aren’t regretting leaving him, are you? I don’t want you to resent me. This was your choice.”

I placed my hand on Bret’s face. “No, Bret. I don’t. I want this to work with you. I just need to find my way again. All I’ve ever done is dance and compete.”

“Well, I promise I’ll do everything to make you happy. Hopefully, you will win Blackpool. At least you can go out on a high note.”

As I looked out into the lavender gardens, my mind raced. But Bret helped me relax. He massaged my shoulders and told me what a beautiful dancer I was. How he would support me finding a new partner.

And I knew it would be okay.

Bret scooped me up and started kissing me. He carried me to bed, and we made love.

An hour later, Bret hit the shower. I texted Jenny.

Selena: Call me

Bret emerged from the bathroom dressed. He wrapped his arms around me, and the smell of cedar made me giddy.

Bret gazed into my eyes. “I can’t tell you how many times I thought of you while I was deployed. You were always on my mind. Of course, it didn’t